Funds to fix Killer Conchester' included in new Pa. transportation plan

A new 12-year plan for transportation-related projects in Pennsylvania includes funding to fix the long-talked-about, deadly stretch of Route 322 from Route 1 in Concordville to I-95 in Chester.

The plan formulated by the state Transportation Committee outlines how the state will spend more than $21 billion generated by higher gasoline taxes and motorist fees created under the Act 89 Transportation Plan.

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The commission released the updated plan Thursday, describing how the increased revenue — more than $62 billion — will be allocated. Just two years ago, the 12-year plan involved just more than $41 billion in spending.

The highway funding law enacted in December is ramping up to bring in about $2.3 billion annually in new revenue.

Some of the key projects funded by Act 89 and included in the updated 12-Year Program are:

• Construction of the long-awaited expansion of the Conchester (U.S. 322) Highway between Route 1 and Interstate 95 in Delaware County.

• Continuation of the four-lane US 322 from the top of Seven Mountains to west of Potters Mills in Centre County.

• The initial steps to lay the groundwork for the Interstate 83 master plan expansion through Harrisburg.

• The initial steps leading to the widening of U.S. 22 in the Lehigh Valley.

• Start of design work for the 13-mile Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway in Snyder, Union and Northumberland counties.

“These improvements will dramatically improve mobility for people across the state and are moving ahead because of our leadership and ability to build a consensus on matters that are critical to the state’s future,” said Gov. Tom Corbett in releasing the plan.

The new plan anticipates $63.2 billion being available over the next 12 years for improvements to roads, bridges, transit systems, airports and railroads. That compares with $41.6 billion in the last update two years ago.

Here in Delaware County, people have been waiting for years for the state to tackle the dangerous stretch of highway that garnered the grisly nickname “Killer Conchester.”

Residents have heard the “cure” was coming many times before, the one that says construction on the 7.1-mile stretch of two-lane road is just around the corner.

When the transportation bill was first passed, a PennDOT official indicated that some right of way acquisition still needed to be completed and that an environmental study also needed to be finished, but was hopeful that dirt would begin moving on the project by late 2016 or early 2017.

In years past, the Daily Times has printed stories saying construction could begin in 2001, 2006 and 2007. The project was originally scheduled to cost about $90 million, but it has more than doubled in recent years partly because the project has expanded and partly because of the costs of materials and labor.

Meanwhile, the costs of traveling the road on a regular basis have been costly for some in other ways. There were 430 reported crashes on that stretch of road from 2008 through 2012. There were 251 crashes labeled as rear end, with that number gradually increasing from 38 in 2008 to 65 in 2012. Of the 430 crashes, six resulted in fatalities, five in major injury and 20 in moderate injury.

There were 50 fatalities on the road between 1970 and 1988 and 11 between 1992 and 1997. The road first opened in 1954.

The controversial transportation package was opposed by many in the state as a hidden tax hike. It will result in higher prices at the gas pumps, but was seen as crucial in addressing the state’s crumbling infrastructure of roads and bridges.

The bill features what is expected to be a 28-cent increase in the price of regular gas and a 39-cent increase in diesel fuel each to be phased in at about five cents to nine cents per year over the next five years.